Breaking down gender roles, one role at a time.

I Read the Internets – 3/31/07

Those of you who’ve been waiting eagerly for the 12th Feminist SF Carnival should know that it’s been postponed – it will go up on April 2nd.Another cool collection of writing that’s due soon is the Girl-Wonder Zine – the submissions deadline for which has been pushed back, by the way.If you’re a quick worker, you could still get something in on time for the first issue.And who wouldn’t want to be part of a project with such lovely front and back covers?If your interest tends more towards games than comics, check out the submission guidelines for Cerise, the magazine associated with The IRIS Network.

The reception The IRIS Network has received since its launch last week has been mostly very positive, and in one case very… Well, tekanji has the whole story on that at Official Shrub.com Blog.But lest any of you think that exclusive, misogyny-tinged attitudes are a freak rarity confined to one corner of the gaming internets, O’Danu at Feminist Gamers has a post up about an editorial in Game Informer, probably the most well-circulated gaming magazine out there, which displays some familiar logic:

The assumptions underlying his editorial are breathtaking in their condescension. He assumes that the person in each family that first gets involved in gaming is both young and male (neither was true in my family. I had video systems, that I played regularly, before my oldest son was born. My husband is the casual gamer in the family. I am the hardcore one). He assumes that women are intimidated by technology. Granted that it was more true a decade before, it is not at all true now. He assumes that older adults will have pedestrian tastes.

Popular Culture reflects the desires, and fears, of the society in which it exists.

It’s why Wonder Woman and Superman fight off Nazis in the 1940s, why we saw so many movies about the dangers of genetic testing a few years back, why since 9/11 America has had a wealth of film and television about superheroes. It’s why teenagers are punished in horror movies for having sex, why spy movies became so popular during the height of the Cold War, why the Geek gets the Girl, always. Even farther and even faster, it’s why Stepmothers are the Bad Guys in fairy tales, why Cinderella becomes a Princess, why Children should never wander into Dark Woods alone.

It’s why the Good Girl, if she Stays Good, will get the Guy, why the Bad Girl can be reformed, and usually through Death.

Her other posts in this series have had some great lists attached to them – this time, Amy Reads is asking her readers to give her their own lists of recommended women in popular culture.Go share some of your favorites.

In movie-related internets, Angel H. of the newish Don’t Read This Blog thinks “It’s about freakin’ time!” for Disney to introduce a black princess.At Sara Speaking, meanwhile, the recently-released trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean III undergoes some scrutiny [blog since deleted]:

the pirate lords from the four corners of the earth? Is this just another excuse to be racially insensitive, folks? Did we learn nothing from the cannibals you based on a real people in POTC II? From magical negro Tia Dalma? From the convenient cage of the few crew members of colour you dropped off a fuckin’ cliff??

Comments

Comments like the ones Feminist Gamer quoted from Kato really put down the men who make them and the men who endorse them. It just makes me think, “Here’s a man who’s desperate to be king of some hill, so he’s made gaming his hill, and if I casually trot up his hill and have a picnic on it, he’s going to come at me with twice the wrath of a woman scorned.”

What scares me about Amy’s article is that our goodness and badness is usually tied to our sexuality. I mean, you can be a paid assassin, but if you only have sex when it’s appropriate, you’re unquestionably good and pure. WTF, people? Talk about compartmentalizing.

Hi Revena,
Huzzah! Thanks for the linkage and another fantastic Read of the Internets!!

Hi BetaCandy (still love the name!!!),What scares me about Amy’s article is that our goodness and badness is usually tied to our sexuality. I mean, you can be a paid assassin, but if you only have sex when it’s appropriate, you’re unquestionably good and pure. WTF, people? Talk about compartmentalizing.

It’s so very true, isn’t it? I’m tempted to say it’s a Victorian holdover, but it really isn’t. It goes back, and back, to Greek mythology, to Judeo-Christian tradition, and even further, I’m sure (although I’m not as familiar). Women’s sexuality has been considered Quite the Scary Thing for, well, as long as there have been men and women around.

One of the most fascinating motifs, in my opinion, is the “hooker with a heart of gold,” which allows women sexuality, but says it’s okay, because really, she doesn’t want it anyhow.

I love gamer/geek humor sometimes and I hate it sometimes. Mainly because there are some jokes you can only hear a thousand and three times or so before you get tired of it. ^_~ (And you will. Oh, you will…)